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Zone-read option offense in NFL grew from NAIA-level roots

Rich Rodriguez, now at the University of Arizona, created the zone-read option offense in the early 1990s when he was coaching at Glenville (W.Va.) State. "If it's working in college against fast guys," Rodriguez says, "it's probably going to work in the NFL." (Christian Petersen, Getty Images)

If Colin Kaepernick fakes a pitch and again channels Usain Bolt on some 50-yard, game- winning touchdown run Sunday in New Orleans, the hysterical 49er fans should thank one player.

And it wouldn't be their quarterback.

It would be one Jed Drenning. The name draws a blank? He's the player who inspired the zone- read option offense that has crawled its way up the football ladder until it embedded itself in Super Bowl XLVII.

Drenning would only be confused with Kaepernick because both have two legs and two arms, although Drenning's limbs never worked nearly as well. Drenning ran the 40-yard dash in 5.2 seconds, played for NAIA Glenville (W. Va.) State and never made it past the Arena Football League.

"But," said Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rod- riguez, widely considered the originator of the zone-read option offense when he coached at Glenville State, "he was smarter than I was."

The epiphany came in 1991 on a normal practice for Glenville State. Drenning bobbled a handoff, regained his composure, read the defensive end pinching inside and took off running. He gained 5 yards, which, for Drenning, was inspiration enough for Rodriguez to change his entire offense.

After practice, he turned to his staff and said, "We may have something here."

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What happened next was one of the great college football turnarounds no one ever heard about. Drenning, now a sideline reporter for West Virginia University games, went on to become the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's all-time leader in yards passing (10,876 yards), total offense (11,319), touchdown passes (82) and touchdowns responsible for (97).

Glenville State won or shared the league title from 1993-96 and advanced to the NAIA title game in 1993.

"We ran it for years and not a whole lot of people were running it," Rodriguez said. "It was kind of fun. Then all of a sudden you do it at the Division I level and everybody takes a peek at it."

Yes, people tend to take notice when Tulane goes 12-0. Glenville State was never on television, but Tulane coach Tommy Bowden saw the team on film. When he took the Tulane job in 1997, Bowden hired Rodriguez as his offensive coordinator to install the read option.

The Green Wave went 19-4 over two years. Shaun King, a more athletic Drenning, broke the NCAA record for passing efficiency.

When Bowden took Rodriguez to Clemson in 1999, he turned noodle-armed Woody Dantzler into more of an option runner and led the Tigers to a No. 5 ranking a year later.

"The faster the quarterback got," Rodriguez said with a chuckle, "the bigger the plays became."

Since then, college offenses have exploded. Oregon. Texas A&M. Kansas State. They all have taken the zone-read option and reached historic heights.

But the NFL remained a reluctant convert. Analysts believed the read option, like the wishbone 30 years earlier, wouldn't work against super-quick linebackers.

"That's a good point and a reasonable debate," Rodriguez said. "But also the guys that are going to be running it are faster too. So, if it's working in college against fast guys, it's probably going to work in the NFL."

It also helps that the NFL has a new injection of speed at quarterback with Robert Griffin III lifting the Redskins back to the playoffs and, of course, Kaepernick. But NFL linebackers hit harder than they do in college. It's one reason Griffin had knee surgery and critics wonder if he will stay alive for his next contract.

"I don't know if you can major in it," Rodriguez said. "People say maybe you can't do it 75 percent of the time, but every play's so valuable in the NFL that I would think if you use it six to 12 times a game and get big positive yards like Kaepernick did in the one playoff game (against Green Bay) then, heck, why not do that?"

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